The present invention relates generally to software tools for financial management.
Maintaining financial records for home, and business, is a time-consuming, and frequent process. The advent of financial management applications has automated the process of maintaining financial records on a back-end and performing financial transactions on a front-end. Because the needs for financial management can be so varied, the financial management applications are designed to have a very general flow, until modified by the user.
Configuration of a financial management application can be a sophisticated process, especially for a novice end-user. In some cases, templates are provided to give the end-user a short cut to the configuration process. These templates can be general in nature because of varying needs even within a certain industry. For example, a chart of accounts used for a construction company that builds residential properties can be significantly different from a chart of accounts used for a construction company that builds commercial properties. Even within commercial construction, there can be variance between companies that focus on apartment buildings and companies that focus on strip malls. Therefore, it takes significant resources for a manufacturer of a financial management program to identify the particular nuances of niche industries so as to ensure correct configuration of the financial management application.
In addition, an interview process or wizard can walk the end-user through each step needed to set up the financial management application. Typically, the interview process is provided once, when a profile is initiated. Subsequent changes can require manual configuration. In addition, the interview process can request settings that the end-user is not able to provide due to lack of experience or for other reasons.